America has spoken and the three finalists for this season of American Idol are Gabby Barrett, Caleb Lee Hutchinson and Maddie Poppe.

Today’s focus is on Poppe, the 20-year-old student from Clarksville, IA, who accompanies herself on guitar, ukulele and keyboard. She demonstrated her skill on the ukulele during her performance of “Bare Necessities” from The Jungle Book on Disney Night, and she played the piano on Prince night for “Nothing Compares 2 U.”

“I remember watching this show growing up and I would get bored if people did the same thing every week,” Maddie said. “I thought, ‘I got to switch it up and show them I am versatile.’ At this point in the competition, you’ve got to step it up and bring something fresh. It is important to stand out now.”

We spoke to Maddie backstage at American Idol, following the Mother’s Day show and the naming of the three finalists for American Idol, to find out how she is feeling, what she has planned for next week, how excited she is for her hometown visit, and more.

How are you feeling now that you made it to the finale?

Everyone deserves to be in the top three at this point and if it was going to be Cade [Foehner] or Michael [J. Woodard], I was totally going to be there for it, you know? Obviously, Caleb and Gabby have been standouts from the beginning. There’s just so much going through my mind. Caleb and I actually met the first day of Hollywood Week, and we were in group round together, but they didn’t air it, so we’ve spent every day together since then. I really didn’t get to know Gabby until Top 24.

I know that Cade and Michael have huge fan bases, and I if it wasn’t going to be me, I was ready for it. I really was because I never thought I’d get to Top 5, so if I got cut now, well I get cut now. I was ready for whatever was going to happen. I am so grateful and I can’t believe I keep getting voted through. That’s just crazy to me. It’s exciting.

Is there a song you’ve been saving you’ll be doing next week?

The thing is, I never think ahead because I’m like, “I need to give it all this week.” I don’t ever plan ahead because I don’t know if I’m going to get there. I don’t want to get my hopes up and then get cut and be like, “Oh, I didn’t get to sing my song.” So right now to be totally honest, I don’t have anything planned for next week. It’s scary, but I’m ready for it. I’m just happy I’m in the finale, you know? It’s cool that we’re all going to get just as much exposure, no matter who wins, everyone’s going to get the same amount of exposure.

You said you had a poster of Carrie Underwood in your room growing up, so how was working with Carrie?

It’s very cool to see someone just as genuine and down to earth as they are on TV. It’s crazy, I’ve never seen her live, but, man, when we were just rehearsing in the room upstairs, she sounds just like the record, she doesn’t screw up. She is just a star and she’s a great role model. You can really tell that she knows where she came from. She’s grounded and she’s very humble, so that was really cool to meet her. They always say don’t meet your heroes, because you might change your mind after you meet ‘em, but she’s not that way. If anything, it just made me love her even more because of her attitude and the way she was on and off camera. She’s such a genuine person.

If you win, how are you going to meet the standards of Carrie and Kelly Clarkson?

It was never about being famous to me; I just really want to make a career out of this and do this for the rest of my life. It’s just crazy looking back at myself six months ago. I wanted to give up. I didn’t know what I was going to do next, and I just thought, “When is my saving grace going to come through? Is this going to work out for me or not?”

I was at college and struggling, not knowing what to do, settling for something I didn’t really want to do, and writing songs when I needed to be paying attention in class. But now I’m here and I just can’t even believe it. If I would’ve known then what I know now, man, I wouldn’t believe myself if you had told me this six months ago.

For Mother’s Day, you chose to perform “God Only Knows” by the Beach Boys. Why that song?

I’ve always loved that song, and I was talking with my vocal coach Michael Orland about that. I said, “I want to sing this song,” and he said, “Yeah, we need to sing that song some week.” Then we found out Mother’s Day week was coming up and I thought, “Man, could I sing that for Mother’s Day?” It’s kind of saying we drive each other crazy but I’d be nothing without you. I’ve loved that song since I first heard it and I love the Beach Boys, so that’s why I picked the song.

What’s the first thing you want to do when it’s all over?

I want to go spend time with my friends back home. I want to spend time with my family more than anything. I don’t want people to think that I’ve abandoned them because of all this, but it’s really just that I’m so busy and I truly don’t have time to talk to people every day. I don’t want people to think it’s because I’m out here now and it got to my head, you know? So I want to go back. I’m so excited for this hometown visit because it’s really going to be nice just seeing everybody. You don’t see the support but you know it’s there and to see it is going to be awesome.

Does the tour go near your home?

It goes to Omaha, Nebraska and Minneapolis, I believe. Omaha is about four hours and Minneapolis is about three and a half, so close.

How has American Idol changed your life?

It has changed my life in more ways than just my career. I have made friends who are some of my best friends. Everything in my life has changed and I am so grateful for it. Without this show, I would be settling for something I didn’t really want to do. I was going to college for something that I liked, but I was writing songs while I was supposed to be doing my homework. I was trying to get gigs while I was supposed to be paying attention to a lecture.

American Idol returns on Sunday, May 20 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC for the final night of performances. Then the finale is Monday, May 21, from 9 -11 p.m. when the new American Idol will be revealed.

AMG/Parade Digital

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